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Top 5 Most Architecturally Significant Homes of 2022
As 2022 comes to a close, azarchitecture/Jarson & Jarson Real Estate is filled with gratitude for all of the remarkable listings we have been able to represent and/or sell this year.
To celebrate these incredible achievements, here are our Top 5 Most Architecturally Significant Homes Represented by AZA in 2022! Each of these homes is truly special, boasting fantastic designs, impeccable styles and breathtaking structural elements. From modern marvels to timeless wonders, these five homes represent the very best of architectural design and craftsmanship. We couldn’t be prouder to have represented these homes, and we hope that you take as much joy in learning about their captivating histories and exquisite details as we have. Here’s to an incredible year of desert architecture!
1. The Myers Residence – John Rattenbury, Taliesin Architect
Status: FOR SALE $5,229,000.00
With design by Frank Lloyd Wright apprentice and Taliesin Architects co-founder, John Rattenbury – he and his team of associated architects and apprentices designed the Charles and Alta Myers Residence located in the Desert Highlands community of North Scottsdale. It remains one of the most significant homes by this firm and is deeply connected to Wright and his principles of organic architecture.
Impressive to this day, and one of his finest works, the Myers Residence appears to grow out of the hillside. Located at the foot of Pinnacle Peak, this Wright protégé used his acumen to design a home of continuous curves that nestle into this boulder strewn environ. At approximately 10,000 square feet, the design belies its size in using multiple roof forms to break up the mass, and to provide a sense of individual shelters along the landscape. Decorative details echo the shapes, forms, and colors of the desert. The home – at once of, and in, this generous multi-lot desert site remains timeless and one-of-a-kind.
Architect John Rattenbury passed away on March 28, 2021 at the age of 93. The Myers house endures a graceful statement of lasting monument to his talent.
2. The Dialogue House – Wendell Burnette, FAIA
Status: FOR SALE $1,995,000.00
Phoenix offers a handful of signature designs that define contemporary Desert Modern Architecture; this home designed by Wendell Burnette is one of the finest! A superb balance of mass, materials, light, scale and perforation perfectly placed on a native landscaped, gentle hillside slope. Wonderfully executed details; a wealth of minutiae to delight the connoisseur in a simple design that offers a carefree and comfortable plan that defines our desert-lifestyle.
Stunning City-views anchor you to the urban hub; the nearby Mountain Preserve panorama calms the soul. The private pool is a sensory experience; providing an enclave that is both dramatic and serene.
The home was carefully renovated and restored in 2012; the new owners painstakingly following the Architect’s vision and direct oversight to co-create the final work as it is today.
The gardens were updated and recreated to naturalize the setting and to allow a seamless connection to the site. Well published and celebrated, this remains a signature design for Mr. Burnette and is widely considered to be an outstanding example of his work.
3. The Halas House – Eddie Jones, FAIA
Status: FOR SALE $3,400,000.00
There are so few homes remaining that represent the “Arizona School” of Desert Modern Architecture other than the Halas House designed by award-winning, “Master of the Southwest” Architect Eddie Jones, FAIA. Immaculately kept by the original family, this home is being offered for the first time ever. Featured in many publications, this award-winning home nestles into its Camelback Mountain hillside site offering a quiet, yet expressive design well integrated into nature, with commanding views of Paradise Valley. The home offers brick masonry and copper construction, simply amazing detailing, and custom steel elements. Soaring ceilings make the volumes feel more spacious and the full-height glass walls bring the views and outdoors in. Not a single detail was overlooked in this custom home. The main ceilings feature a half-barrel vault in redwood while the custom millwork is outfitted in white oak. Open kitchen offers a plethora of storage and wonderful natural light, a gift from the round skylight details found throughout this home.
The plan is generous, flexible and perfectly sized; including a great room anchored by the circular masonry fireplace, formal dining and three bedrooms. One of the bedrooms opens into the owners suite for a convenient full office. The 2nd guest room sports it’s own entrance, en-suite bath and built-in fold-down bed, bookcases and private access to the garage. You’ll find an enclosed glass solarium that is a perfect place for morning coffee, complete with private side patio with a zen-like water feature. Sheltered and serene. The owners suite offers every detail from the large closet, completely fitted in oak, to the bath suite complete with shower, soaking tub with views, separate double sinks and direct access to the pool. The sparkling lap pool is perfect-sized and ready for entertaining. There’s an outdoor shower too!
The home offers access off of Valle Vista Rd for easy and private garage entry. Out front there’s a circular drive for guests and more. Well sighted, the home is very quiet and elevated well above street level to capture a view corridor that looks across the valley, from Mummy Mountain to Piestewa Peak and beyond! Behind is the glorious rock and desert of Echo Canyon, easily enjoyed poolside or at the private entertaining patio below.
This is a rare opportunity that cannot be duplicated. Pride of continuous ownership is evident in this home and un-replicated at anywhere near the asking price.
4. Hidden Valley Desert House – Wendell Burnette, FAIA
Status: SOLD for $2,495,000.00
Located on a five-acre gently sloping rise in Cave Creek, the Hidden Valley Desert House is a “long pavilion for living” that commands the site. Designed by Wendell Burnette FAIA, this very special home offers superb materials, detailed construction and a unique plan to make it simply a masterwork of living design.
A seemingly straightforward design delights in detail and surprise: From ground level, the home is anchored on a solid plinth using stepped, local concrete masonry walls and an integrally colored concrete deck/slab rendered monolithic hand-applied plaster style coating. Above the plinth is a large shade canopy that appears to float across the mass, creating a comforting sense of shelter. The upper roof canopy offers a deep, mill-finish stainless steel fascia that screens photovoltaic solar panels and necessary mechanical, while echoing the landscape and sky.
Artfully sighted, the primarily south-facing home is surrounded by a forest of mature Saguaro, but the site offers unique ecology; a teddy bear cholla field to the east flourishing in a prominent outcrop of unique pinkish-red shale. The home is elevated perfectly to enjoy sweeping views from the distant Phoenix Valley to the south. Surrounding mountain ranges include the Continental Mountains to the east, which reflect the sunset sky.
Inside and out, the underside of the canopy uses a black theatrical fabric scrim that creates a continuous feeling of deep soft shade and void allowing them to always feel open. The lowest level of the home lives as a comforting shelter, the upper levels are continuously open to view and earth with doors and glazing that create a much larger living space than what’s conventionally under roof. When opened, there are often no discernible distinctions between inside and outside.
We find this simple statement by the architect encapsulates the serenity and harmony of this home in perfect summary; the architect shares: “For our clients this house was about purging/simplifying their life and also about an indoor/outdoor house for their Birds, Koi, Rhodesian Ridgebacks and one cat and their very specific way of living”. We are certain that you’ll find this home to be a perfect definition of Desert Living.
5. Palm Canyon Hillside – Ned Sawyer, FAIA
Status: SOLD for $2,945,000.00
This Modern Hillside home was designed by Edward B. (Ned) Sawyer FAIA and offers spectacular views coupled with superb architecture. Perfectly positioned near the top of Palm Canyon, the home commands the site with sweeping vistas of both surrounding mountain preserves and city lights beyond.
A versatile floorplan, perfect for today’s lifestyle offering five bedrooms, attached guest suite, office/den, formal dining, large living room, adjacent built-in bar/game room, luxury eat-in kitchen with upgraded appliances. Views are available from nearly every room in the house which couples with outdoor living perfect for entertaining; oversized patios, negative edge pool, and enjoy amazing views from the synthetic-lawn grass yards. Hillside-living gains the views, but the large yard offers generous space for outdoor fun.
Located between Paradise Valley and the Biltmore area, Palm Canyon offers a fantastic location seemingly minutes from everything! This secluded location is surrounded by natural desert and dramatic homes. For the architecture lovers: The neighborhood offers an array of original designs from Will Bruder to Frank Lloyd Wright.
This double-volume home was artfully crafted to display the architect’s devotion to “complete design” and desert modernism. The mortar-washed masonry is juxtaposed against the clear glass and crisp lines of the house. Inside, the eye is ever drawn out to the view: one enjoys both a sense of shelter, as well as a complete connection to the outdoors.
About the architect: Ned Sawyer worked closely with Arizona Modernist Al Beadle and went on to develop a signature modernist ethic of his own. Now coming into their own as the architectural statements that they are, his designs are garnering the respect they deserve. This custom design is a rare find.
Visit azarchitecture.com to see all these dream homes and more!